Currently, Europe produces less than 10% of chips globally. This means that most of the chips used in electronic devices in Europe are imported from countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States.
This dependency in the microelectronics sector has a significant impact on our economy, with slowdowns in growth, increases in production costs, and final prices for consumers, as well as on the competitiveness of the industrial sector, which is made vulnerable to disruptions in the supply chain.
To address this situation, the European Union launched the Chips Act, an ambitious plan aimed at doubling Europe’s market share in the semiconductor sector by 2030, increasing it from the current 10% to 20%, while individual countries develop investment plans to create new factories. Italy, for example, promises to create an industrial hub in the Etna Valley, which will produce increasingly refined and high-performance technological solutions.

WHAT IS MICROELECTRONICS?
Microelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on chips as its main product and deals with the miniaturization of components and electrical circuits. This not only aims to create ever smaller and portable electronic devices but, thanks to the higher density of components, enables the development of faster, more sophisticated, and more reliable computers, while reducing the costs of the devices that contain them through mass production.
The applications of microelectronics are therefore varied, but the sectors where it plays the most significant role are those that represent our daily life, such as computing, telecommunications, automotive, medicine, and aerospace. In each of these sectors, we find a chip that allows us to talk, work, and even live, as in the case of pacemakers and diagnostics.
For this reason, it is a constantly expanding technological sector, continuously trying to overcome physical limits and reaching toward challenges that verge on science fiction, such as nanoelectronics — the development of electronic devices at the atomic level, the use of quantum mechanics to build extremely powerful computers, and the search for new materials to construct more efficient and eco-sustainable electronic components.

THE CHIPS ACT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
The situation of chip production and consumption in Europe is complex and constantly evolving. In this context, the European Community responds with legislation on chips that aims to strengthen technological sovereignty, competitiveness, and resilience in Europe, as well as contribute to the digital and green transitions.
The measure foresees substantial public and private investments to build new factories, encourage research and the development of advanced technologies. In this way, Europe aims to become more autonomous in semiconductor production, the “brains” of modern electronic devices, and to catch up with countries like Taiwan and South Korea. The goal is to reduce dependence on imports, but it requires a joint effort from governments, industries, and researchers.
From an investment perspective, in addition to the mentioned financial support for building new factories, tax incentives are planned for companies investing in chip production in Europe, such as tax breaks on investments and tax credits for research and development. Furthermore, to accelerate investments, simplified approval processes are in place for the construction of new factories and approval of new products.

THE ETNA VALLEY
Among Italy’s most ambitious investments is one in the heart of the Etna Valley, where a new infrastructure dedicated to advanced microelectronics will be built. The goal is to develop prototypes of devices necessary for the development of innovative applications in electric mobility and telecommunications.
This project, which has an international scope as it is one of those approved by the Governing Board of the Chips Joint Undertaking, was made possible by the incentives of the Chips Act and was presented by the National Research Council (CNR).
It has also been supported by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), as well as the Sicilian Region and the Municipality of Catania. The total investment for the realization of the project amounts to 360 million euros, half of which comes from EU funds and the other half from funds provided by the participating countries. Italy will receive the largest share of the funding, 212 million euros, of which 106 million euros come from the European Community, 53 million euros funded by MUR, and an equivalent amount from MIMIT. A significant portion of this investment will be allocated to the pilot line to be built through the expertise of the Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems.
An investment that will not only have an impact on national production but will positively affect the local area, fostering employment and the supply industry, already present in the region’s microelectronics sector.

LAST INNOVATIONS IN CHIPS: PRODUCING ENERGY AND BEEN APPLIED TO LEAVES
A crucial role in the growth of the sector is played by research laboratories, such as the one at the Department of Information Engineering (DII) of the University of Pisa, where they managed to produce a nanostructured silicon chip that generates electrical energy. This device is revolutionary because, unlike other chips that consume energy, it produces energy by harnessing a hot surface — which can be the human body, a radiator, or other heated devices — and can power other devices without using batteries, which are expensive, need recharging, and must be recycled or refurbished at the end of their life cycle to avoid pollution.
The team of electronic engineers at the University of Pisa also developed an ultra-thin electronic device, just three microns thick, which can be applied to irregular, curved, delicate, and flexible surfaces, such as leaves, optical lenses, or orange peels.
This device represents a significant advancement in research on conformable electronics because it is suitable for application anywhere and opens the door to an endless range of applications. The great innovation of the project is also tied to the creation of the machinery used to produce it. The team of scientists developed a jet ink printer capable of defining structures with micrometric resolution, surpassing the limits of currently available printers.
This is because the electronic device is the result of a combination of standard microelectronic techniques for material deposition and more advanced technologies, such as ink deposition, to create transistors that are perfectly integrable into more complex electronic circuits, both digital and analog.